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Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
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How to stop smoking: smokers 40 per day closes after 50 years
A woman from Devon who stopped smoking after more than 50 years has asked other smokers take advantage of expert help for free.
Ann Veit, 68, smoked about 40 a day from the age of 15 and suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
She began attending the weekly NHS stop smoking clinic in March this year, and noticed significant benefits to your health and well-being, and to resign.
In particular, routine tests showed a significant improvement in lung function.
"Breathing is easier, more energy, my self-esteem has improved and he no longer feels like an outcast," Ann, who livesnear Axminster said.
"I can also see the financial benefits - I have more money in my wallet at the end of the week."
Ann receives individualized support Lucy Drury, a consultant specialist smoking cessation for health promotion Devon (HPD).
"Lucy is a wonderful supporter who takes things at my own pace," Ann, manager of information systems says removed.
"It is never judgmental or condescending, and projects a sincere desire to help and concern for my well-being.
"If everyone stop trying to have a defender like Lucy, there would be many more smokers reformed."
Ann, who has the support to stop smoking using patches and inhalers, is encouraging others to visit your local clinic to quit NHS.
HPD, a specialist arm of the North Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, runs a clinic in Axminster medical practice every Friday, and three sessions per week in Honiton.
Ann said: "Do not go alone when it is excellent help available that does not use tricks and understands that it is not easy to quit.
"Talk to your doctor and give it a try. Improving self-esteem when you've managed to stop a great feeling. Use my mantra to never stop quitting."
Ann had tried to quit three times unsuccessfully - to try hypnosis, acupuncture and remedies.
She says, "After a severe attack of pneumonia, which left me in the hospital, I realized I should stop or he would not last long."
She said: "I sincerely hope that I have learned the lesson of the stupidity of smoking and will do my best to resist the temptation.
"It's hard, but never quit quitting. If I can do it after 50 odd years, there is hope for everyone."
Smokers are turning their backs NHS, and opting for electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking
The number of people turning to the NHS for help to quit smoking has declined for the second consecutive year, according to a new report.
Anti-smoking campaigners have described the new figures from the Information Center "disappointing" health welfare, after showing that the number of people using the NHS to establish a "quit date" to quit decreased 19 percent over the past year.
According to figures, more than 740,000 smokers using NHS Stop Smoking Services 2012/2013, but last year that figure had dropped to 586,000. Campaigns against smoking have suggested that this may be because more smokers are turning to electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking.
It is also the first time that number has declined for two consecutive years since smoking cessation services NHS were first proposed by all local authorities in England in 2001, anti-smoking charity ASH blame fall on a "combination of the effects of changes in health services, less massive advertising campaigns that specifically encourage people to visit the services and the impact of electronic cigarettes."
"We know that more and more people use electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking," said Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at the charity. "Although the service can not prescribe electronic cigarettes, which can give people who want to use extra support can make all the difference to the success of quitting."
Martin Dockrell, lead tobacco control program in England Public Health, which oversees the services of NHS smoking cessation, noted that "the local smoking cessation services are efficient than ever to help smokers quit, although the numbers using global services fell. Smokers are four times more likely to have success using these services. "
He added: "There are many factors that could explain why the overall figures are included in the new popularity of electronic cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking, but so far, none of the electronic cigarettes are allowed as drugs, and. content and quality varies greatly. there is no reason "why someone who wants to stop using an electronic cigarette should not speak as a service for smoking cessation support and advice to help most likely to quit for good extra.
Smoking is the biggest killer of England, representing nearly 80 000 deaths per year, but the most recent Office for National Statistics figures show that the prevalence of smoking continues to decline in society in general.
Anti-smoking campaigners have described the new figures from the Information Center "disappointing" health welfare, after showing that the number of people using the NHS to establish a "quit date" to quit decreased 19 percent over the past year.
According to figures, more than 740,000 smokers using NHS Stop Smoking Services 2012/2013, but last year that figure had dropped to 586,000. Campaigns against smoking have suggested that this may be because more smokers are turning to electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking.
It is also the first time that number has declined for two consecutive years since smoking cessation services NHS were first proposed by all local authorities in England in 2001, anti-smoking charity ASH blame fall on a "combination of the effects of changes in health services, less massive advertising campaigns that specifically encourage people to visit the services and the impact of electronic cigarettes."
"We know that more and more people use electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking," said Hazel Cheeseman, director of policy at the charity. "Although the service can not prescribe electronic cigarettes, which can give people who want to use extra support can make all the difference to the success of quitting."
Martin Dockrell, lead tobacco control program in England Public Health, which oversees the services of NHS smoking cessation, noted that "the local smoking cessation services are efficient than ever to help smokers quit, although the numbers using global services fell. Smokers are four times more likely to have success using these services. "
He added: "There are many factors that could explain why the overall figures are included in the new popularity of electronic cigarettes as an aid to quit smoking, but so far, none of the electronic cigarettes are allowed as drugs, and. content and quality varies greatly. there is no reason "why someone who wants to stop using an electronic cigarette should not speak as a service for smoking cessation support and advice to help most likely to quit for good extra.
Smoking is the biggest killer of England, representing nearly 80 000 deaths per year, but the most recent Office for National Statistics figures show that the prevalence of smoking continues to decline in society in general.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
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e-cigarettes create a new generation of smokers
Most commonly that “something” is propylene glycol and nicotine. Press a button and you can inhale a smoke-like vapor that contains nicotine or a few other drugs for the more adventuresome.
Since nothing is burning, you are not technically smoking, and the smoke-free laws are therefore neatly sidestepped. Yet all the while people are getting a very smoking-like experience. Clever little device, huh!
E-cigarettes/hookah pens are kind of a half-full /half-empty sort of thing. The industry likes to take the high road. They want you to believe that if you are a two- or three-pack-a-day smoker, and you switch to e-cigarettes as a substitution, you are better off.
And why wouldn’t you be? There’s no tar, no carbon monoxide, and no 400-plus chemicals released from burning tobacco. You won’t burn the house down, and there is only one thing to worry about – nicotine! That’s a pretty impressive list of positives.
The e-cigarette competes for these presumably soon-to-be ex-smokers with nicotine gum, patches, Chantix, antidepressants, hypnotism, will power, and tracheostomy.
There is no great evidence that these devices are an effective way to quit. But they might be. This doesn’t seem like a growing customer base to start an industry on, since less and less people are smoking.
To figure out what the e-cigarette industry is actually betting on, we need look no further than the Centers for Disease Control’s 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey. A few of our tax dollars keep track of smoking rates in young people. That seems prudent, given the negative health consequences of smoking.
Overall, looking at students from grade 6 through 12, e-cigarette use more than doubled between 2011 and 2012, going from 3.3 percent that tried it to 6.8 percent. Of the 2.1 percent that were currently e-cigarette users, 75 percent also smoked non e-cigarettes – aka “regular” cigarettes with their 400-plus chemicals that require a match.
Small percentages doubling in a year’s time doesn’t sound like much, but there are a lot of kids in school — about 15 million in high school alone. A little math works out to over a million high school students that are or have become e-cigarette customers, most of whom also smoke regular cigarettes.
If the trend continues with Hookah Pens, next year there will be 2 million, and before long, a new generation of smokers. Does the expression “gateway drug” come to mind?
Are hookah pens the latest version of Joe Camel? Are they wrapped in purple paper and sold at “head shops” to attract adult smokers or teens?
Interestingly, when one of the largest university systems in the world — the University of California — decided to ban smoking on all its campuses effective Jan. 1, 2014, it included e-cigarettes in the ban. The California State University system is considering a similar ban.
We have made great progress in the last two decades to reduce smoking. In many areas, smoking is so rare that it’s actually startling to see someone lighting one up.
Let’s not fool ourselves that these cute “personal vaporizers” are out there to get 60-year-old smokers to quit. The real purpose is getting 16-year-olds to start.
QUIT SMOKING :
Laser therapy to quit smoking in the Philippines
Mack Macasaet-Benauro is a woman on a mission—to help people quit smoking, change their lifestyle and, above all, become healthy.
A year after opening her laser therapy business in Manila people are coming from far and wide to try out the Anne Penman Laser Therapy method that Mack trained for and it’s working.
“I was willing to try laser treatment to help me quit smoking though I had reservations that it would work,” says Frank, who flew all the way from Indonesia when he learned about Anne Penman Laser Therapy (APLT) in Manila.
Frank was an addict—he’d been smoking up to 60 cigarettes a day for 30 years.
Three days after his first session—and without reaching for a cigarette during that time—his carbon monoxide reading registered a level corresponding to that of a non-smoker.
“Having tried alternatives in the past that proved unsuccessful I am now a firm believer that laser treatment can work to get past the nicotine withdrawal symptoms and help to stop smoking provided that the smoker is committed to quit the habit,” he says.
Another couple from Romblon, took an overnight ferry to make it on time for their appointment with Mack. The gentleman, who had successful laser treatment to quit smoking years ago in his native Austria, was delighted when he discovered laser therapy was available in the Philipines— and was sure it would work for his Filipino wife as well.
It did.
Six months after their treatments, both clients are still smoke-free.
The use of Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) for smoking cessation has been widely practiced in Europe and North America for more than 20 years and Anne Penman, the founder of APLT (www.annepenman.com ), is the leading light in this industry.
World-wide there are now more than 30 locations bearing her name. Her first center in Asia-Pacific—APLT Manila (annepenmanlasertherapymla@gmail.com) was opened in early 2013 and is fast gaining popularity not only in the Philippines but also in the neighboring countries.
Mack Macasaet-Benauro, independent operator and certified laser therapist of APLT Manila explains the process:
The laser therapy works around the principle of acupuncture through electro-stimulation. In lieu of the needles which could be painful at times and would require 100 percent precision in determining the energy points, it’s the laser that penetrates tissues and stimulates nerve endings without any pain.
The laser is also equipped with a sensor that locates corresponding body points. And as the procedure is performed in a spa-like environment, most clients actually fall asleep during the treatment and wake up feeling rejuvenated.
The therapy does not involve any medication so there are no undesirable, even life-threatening side effects that are commonly associated with pharmacological interventions.
“As well as the laser treatment we take time to explain to our clients the concept behind nicotine addiction, the reason why they simply could not stop despite their willingness to quit,” explains Mack. “Based on their lifestyles and work schedules, we suggest activities that will make them stick to their goal of being smoke-free. We also measure the level of carbon monoxide in the body before and after treatment with an exclusive gadget used in smoking cessation programs abroad. This provides a scientific and objective confirmation if the client really has stopped smoking.”
Compared to conventional methods to quit smoking, laser treatment is reported to be four times more effective than nicotine patches or other medications in the market. A randomized controlled clinical trial involving 340 smokers was conducted in the UK and published in 2008 to validate the efficacy of laser treatment for smoking cessation. The Anne Penman Laser Therapy treatment, through its independent database monitoring system, is consistent with the reported clinical outcome. Success rate is defined as total abstinence from tobacco use in three, six and twelve months.
Priced at P13,850, the smoking cessation program involves two sessions spaced two to three days apart. In rare cases when there is a relapse, a third session can be booked at anytime and is free of charge.
Aside from Macasaet-Benauro, the APLT Manila clinic staff includes a respiratory therapist and two on-call licensed nurses who are all certified laser therapists.
APLT is powered by Thor Photomedicine Ltd. UK, the leader in LLLT manufacture and the only laser company with FDA, CE, TGA and NATO clearance to date.
APLT Manila aims to follow Anne Penman’s lifelong vision to help as many people as possible make long-term lifestyle changes.
“There is nothing more rewarding than helping people quit and I truly believe that with the right support you can do anything,” says Mack.
As well as the treatments at the clinic APLT Manila also offers on-site treatments in the workplace through the Corporate Smoking Cessation Program (CSCP). An early awareness campaign in school organizations about the ill-effects of smoking is also underway.
Quitting smoking drops heart attack risk to levels of never smokers
Dr Min said: “Smoking is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Studies have identified that quitting smoking can reduce heart attacks and death but have not examined the relationship of this salutary effect on the presence and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Our study aimed to find out what impact stopping smoking had on the risk of cardiovascular events, death and the severity of CAD.”
The prospective CONFIRM (Coronary CT Evaluation for Clinical Outcomes: An International Multicenter Study) registry of 13,372 patients from 9 countries in Europe, North America and East Asia examined the risk of major adverse cardiac events in 2,853 active smokers, 3,175 past smokers and 7,344 never smokers.
Both active smokers and past smokers had a higher prevalence of severely blocked coronary arteries compared to non-smokers. This was determined using coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA), a non-invasive imaging technique that enables direct visualisation of the coronary arteries. Active and past smokers had a 1.5-fold higher probability of severe stenoses in 1 and 2 major heart arteries, and a 2-fold increased probability of severe stenoses in all 3 major heart arteries.
Dr Min, who is director of the Institute of Cardiovascular Imaging at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the Weill Cornell Medical College, said: “Our results show that quitting smoking does not reduce the amount of disease smoking causes in the coronary arteries, but it does reduce the risk of heart attack and death to the levels of non-smokers.”
After 2.0 years of follow-up, 2.1% of the study patients experienced heart attacks or death. Rates of heart attack or death were almost 2-fold higher in active smokers compared to never smokers. Past smokers had the same rates or heart attack or death as never smokers, despite having a higher prevalence, extent and severity of CAD (see figure). The findings in both active and past smokers persisted even when they were matched with non smokers who were similar in age, gender and CAD risk factors.
Dr Min said: “Our study was the first to demonstrate that the presence and severity of coronary blockages do not go away with quitting smoking, but that the risk of heart attack and death does. Future studies are being pursued to determine how this protective effect may occur.”
He continued: “Numerous questions remain and require further study. For example, will the severe blockages observed in patients who have quit smoking provoke adverse events after 2 years (the duration of the present study). Further, does the duration of smoking or the number of cigarettes smoked per day affect the severity of CAD or the prognosis related to quitting smoking. Our team and several others are pursuing such investigations.”
Dr Min concluded: “It’s never too late to quit smoking. This study clearly shows that stopping smoking lowers the risk of heart attacks and death to the level of never smokers.”
QUIT SMOKING :
New council pivots on smoking ban; Casper group calls foul
Turnover on the Casper City Council in January reignited debate over a 2012 indoor smoking ban, and the results of a second petition attempt in less than a year are now mired in a lawsuit.
Casper resident and former Councilwoman Kim Holloway filed the lawsuit asking for nearly 100 disqualified signatures to be counted.
Holloway has filed a motion asking the judge to agree there is a dispute of the facts between the two parties and asking for her day in court. The city has filed a motion to dismiss the case and for summary judgment in its favor, according to the city manager's office.
“If it survives that, then, yes, I believe they will set February or March for a trial date, depending on how busy the court is,” Holloway said.
Before 2012, the last time Casper considered a smoking ban was more than a decade ago. The council's smoke-free ordinance in 2000 exempted bars, retail tobacco businesses, special clubs and restaurants with a capacity of 50 or fewer. It was later overturned by voters.
The latest spark can be traced back to a 2010 council decision to reject a proposed smoking ban in Conwell Park across from the Wyoming Medical Center. Later that year, the group Smoke Free Natrona County pushed for the appointed members of the Casper-Natrona County Board of Health to consider banning smoking in all indoor businesses and near entrances.
The board rejected the idea, but anti-smoking advocates remained undeterred.
Letter campaigns, public opinion polls and air-quality studies supporting opposition to indoor smoking kept the debate in the public eye throughout 2011. By February 2012, the council had drafted a public smoking ban. By spring 2012, it had agreed to exempt smoke shops, private clubs and electronic cigarettes from the ban.
Three contentious readings of the proposed ban followed. People on both sides of the debate packed the council meeting room, and debates went for hours as person after person stepped to the podium to have their say.
The debate often got ugly, with some people calling the ban fascist and invoking comparisons to the Nazi regime. Opponents declared the smoking ban was stripping away business owners’ rights and encouraged nonsmokers to exercise choice by going to nonsmoking establishments; they decried government overreach. Proponents insisted it was a public health issue for patrons and employees.
Only two council members, including incumbent Paul Bertoglio, voted against the ban. Kenyne Schlager, Charlie Powell and Holloway voted for it. Keith Goodenough abstained, citing a conflict of interest with his taxi company, which might benefit from smokers traveling out of town to drink.
The proposal passed in June (2012), but the council suspended the ban until Sept. 1 so opponents could have time for a referendum attempt.
Smoking ban opponents, led by Pat Sweeney, the owner of Wonder Bar, Poor Boy’s Steakhouse, Parkway Plaza Hotel and Convention Centre and All That Jazz, gathered 3,600 signatures, but less than half were confirmed. The petition drive failed by 412 signatures.
Three proponents of the smoking ban — Holloway, Kate Sarosy and Maury Daubin — decided not to run for another term on the council. Bill Brauer, who voted against the ban, was defeated by Craig Hedquist. Stephen Cathey, Daniel Sandoval and Bob Hopkins joined the board after winning election in November 2012.
Three weeks later, bar owners confronted the new council, upset about the ban’s effects on their businesses.
“It is totally destroying my business,” Sandbar Lounge and Frosty’s owner Nancy Goddard said at the time.
Owners reported revenue losses between 9 and 22 percent.
Sweeney said some of that could be because of new businesses in town, but he attributed at least 40 percent of losses to the ban.
“The change in [council] personnel brought in people who had property rights more firmly in their philosophy,” Councilman Goodenough said. “The health angle became less important than the property rights angle.”
Attempts by the Star-Tribune to discover whether the new ban hurt local businesses were inconclusive. Opponents expected DUIs in Casper, Mills and Evansville to rise as people drove outside Casper city limits to smoke while they drank. DUIs were actually down in the months after the ban. On the other hand, beer sales patterns suggested Mills and Evansville had seen increases, while Casper’s former smoking venues had generally declined.
Over the next couple of months, the debate shifted toward whether to repeal the law in its entirety or to introduce amendments addressing bar owners’ concerns.
By spring 2013, the first reading of several amendments took place. Despite a major storm, 40 people showed up – many of the same faces that had debated many of the same points last time.
This year, though, the result was different. The council voted five to four to amend the smoking ban and exempt bars.
“I think the effect of that was incredibly demoralizing and deflating to people who worked on getting [the ban] passed in the first place,” Holloway said.
After more than four years of battling, Smoke Free Natrona County activists debated whether it was even worth a referendum effort.
In June, while smokers celebrated the weakening of the ban by lighting up in their favorite bars, Holloway and a small coalition calling themselves Keep Casper Smoke Free scrambled to drum up enough signatures to force a referendum.
“Those in favor of the comprehensive ban got caught by surprise,” Goodenough said. “I think that’s one reason they were so irate.”
The anti-smoking coalition came up with more than 3,000 signatures by July but, after the usual slew of rejections, the group fell 61 votes short.
In the wake of the failed petition drive, smoking ban supporters decided to adapt the strategy of smoking ban opponents from the previous year and recruit council candidates willing to, yet again, reverse the tide.
Everyone except Holloway.
“Talking to and knowing the people who support this effort, I can’t give up,” Holloway said.
With Keep Casper Smoke Free’s support, Holloway questioned the city administrative service director’s methods and demanded a recount.
Holloway challenged 98 of the rejected signatures. In August, V.H. McDonald, the city's administrative services director, told the Star-Tribune he was confident in his initial count.
McDonald said staff verified signatures against voter registration files. Names that did not exactly match the registered spelling or address were not counted.
Holloway then filed a lawsuit with the Seventh Judicial Court in Natrona County, claiming McDonald “exceeded his authority.”
In response, the city said the state court has no right to review the complaint.
QUIT SMOKING :
Smoking in law court is banned
I have no intention of taking part in the debate about the latest court incidents.
However, for the sake of information, a legal notice published in The Government Gazette of 1913 prohibits smoking in the Magistrates’ Court.
Tonio Azzopardi, way back in 2002, submitted a constitutional application demanding the enforcement of this legal notice.
At that time, there arose the ambiguity that the legal notice in question referred only to the Magistrates’ Court while other areas were not covered.
Nevertheless, action was taken by the then permanent secretary responsible for the law courts to enforce the legal notice within the whole edifice.
Some years ago, a close friend of mine, the late advocate John Laferla, took the initiative and persistently appealed for an updated legal notice banning smoking in court.
He succeeded in his efforts for a total ban and for a fine to be imposed on those caught contravening the law.
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